


Little Lions

by MidnightCreator



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blue is as smug as her pilot, Cat Memes :3, Ends with fluff though, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, His lion wants to cuddle him, Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance has a bad day, Langst, Light Angst, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro had some PTSD issues, Vomiting, bit of blood, minor injury, so he gets a tharapy lion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-06 17:42:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10340850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightCreator/pseuds/MidnightCreator
Summary: Lance has a very bad day and his only upside is the comfort from the Blue Lion.The Blue Lion knows her Pilot needs her so she takes steps to be as close as she can be to him.Her actions set off a chain reaction amongst the other Lions as they all step up to be there for their Pilots.





	1. The Blue Lion

“Lance, for once, will you please take this more seriously?”

 

That should not hurt as much as it did. Keith had made comments like that a hundred times over and Lance had always easily deflected each and every snide remark with a comeback or a joke. Granted, probably not very clever comebacks or witty jokes, those kind of things to time to come up with, but he still said something most of the time.

 

But the small comments built up steadily over the entire time the five humans had been in space. Quite reprimands from Shiro, annoyed eye rolls and exasperated sighs from Pidge, lectures from Allura about how he couldn’t afford to mess around. Hunk and Coran didn’t do anything to his face but Lance felt sure a part of them got tired with his presence and just didn’t tell him because both of them were almost inhumanely nice. And of course Keith was always good for a couple of stinging insults.

 

It all had to reach a peak sooner or later, and on that particular day, Lance felt like he was only a handful of steps from his breaking point.

 

The day had been one of _those_ days. The kind of day where it felt like the universe was out to get you. He had been late for breakfast, later than normal because his alarm decided not to wake him on the one day he wanted to actually show up on time and not get chastised by Allura. But no, he not only did he not get up in time but he completely missed breakfast and went into training on an empty stomach. And on top of that little gem, he felt kind of sick when he woke up, not bad bad but enough for him to notice the shift in his body.

 

And, of course, he completely fell short in the training sims. And what had really cut had been the slightly disappointed look in Shiro’s eyes as he told Lance to focus, to watch his footing, to please not run smack into his teammates while evading the Gladiators. He knew Shiro wasn’t trying to be disappointed, that the Black Paladin knew Lance was a bit weak in close combat and that he needed to smooth out his technique. It didn’t make the idea of disappointing his hero hurt any less in Lance’s chest.

 

Allura had not been as kind. She had shouted at all of them to focus but she was particularly venomous with Lance and was so cross and fed up with his attempts to mask his lousy mood that she pulled him aside after training to deliver a long lecture about the importance of their mission and how he could not afford to goof off and be lazy. The lazy comment had hurt a bit. Lance knew he was a laidback type of guy but if he was given a job he would to it to the best of his ability and that included training. He would grumble and complain but he would do his best and do it with a grin. But apparently, being a happy-go-lucky guy seemed to mean he had to be told constantly that he needed to take things more seriously.

 

When Allura finally finished, Lance had felt so wrung out that he skipped lunch and just crashed in his room, figuring a nap would help fix his day. Naps were an underrated thing that Lance had found at a very early age were the most rejuvenating thing in the universe. But his rejuvenating nap was cut short when the Castle alarms blared loudly, signaling an attack.

 

Lance thought, as he scrabbled into his armor and made a mad dash for his lion, that a good battle was maybe just what he needed to shake his mood slump.

 

But that turned on him too. Everything he did right in the battle was largely ignored and every time he tried to contribute to the plan of attack his voice was drowned out or shot down. All anyone really saw was when he messed up. As the battle progressed and the coil in Lance’s chest grew tighter, he started to mess up a lot more. And, of course, it was Keith who was the most cutting with his remarks.

 

Lance managed to pull trough, he kept himself under control and had his joker mask firmly in place until he was able to land Blue back in the Castle and slip off to his room. He wasn’t sure if he should have been relived or upset about the fact that no one seemed to notice his absence.

 

He fell into bed with a groan. His stomach hurt, his legs hurt, his arms hurt, his head hurt, and there was a burning sensation behind his eyes and the entire day had been nothing but a barrage of bad and worse.

 

Well…no, that wasn’t entirely true.

 

Blue had been there, in the back of his mind, the whole day, offering him encouragement and support when he felt like his team was doing nothing but putting him down. She really was the best in Lance’s option.

 

And she was still there, telling him that he should eat something, that his body would become ill if he didn’t.

 

He smiled a bit at her concern for him, “Thanks gorgeous but…I really don’t wanna move right now. I’ll eat later.”

 

She was reluctant, she wanted her Pilot to take care of himself, but she relented in favor of just purring softly in Lance’s mind, letting the deep rumbling sensation ease some of the tightly coiled tension out of Lance’s body.

 

Lance fell asleep with his lion’s warm voice echoing in his head.

 

 

\-------------

\-------------

 

**_Her Pilot was hurting._ **

****

**_Her Pilot should not be hurting so much._ **

****

**_Her Pilot needed her. She had to help her Pilot._ **

 

\-------------

\-------------

 

Lance awoke slowly, awareness trickling back in increments.

 

He blinked the blurriness from his eyes and yawned, stretching out his entire body and arching his back. He felt rest and refreshed and ten times better then he had felt before his nap.

 

“Surprised no one woke me up,” He mumbled to himself as he got up.

 

Lance got changed and freshened up before making his way to the door. But he paused, however, at the sound of hushed voices outside his door. Lance frowned and pressed his ear to the door.

 

“I am not trying to get pass _that._ ”

 

That was Keith and he sounded pretty mad to Lance.

 

“Well, someone has to!” Ah, Pidge was with him. “Shiro wanted Lance to come for dinner and I do not want to even try explaining this to him.”

 

Pidge sounded frustrated and Lance really couldn’t image why. It wasn’t like she couldn’t hack his lock. So, Lance shrugged and opened his door.

 

He was greeted by a wall of glossy blue fur.

 

Lance yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards, attracting the attention of the huge creature in his doorway.

 

It was a lion. A huge, blue lion with white markings on its muzzle, paws and belly. Its large, golden eyes seemed to look right into Lance’s soul. It purred, low and rumbling, echoing through Lance’s head and reverberating off the walls.

 

Lance knew that purr, it was the same one he felt everyday, the one he had fallen asleep to not to long before.

 

“Blue!”

 

The lioness purred again and butted her massive head against Lance’s chest.

 

“Oh. My. Gosh.” Lance threw his arms around Blue’s neck, burying his fingers into the thick fur on her neck. “Blue! How…oh man, I didn’t even know you could do this! You look so amazing! I mean, you always look amazing but this…just…wow!”

 

Blue rumbled in his mind and drew her scratchy tongue over Lance’s face, making her Paladin laugh.

 

Lance looked up and a very shocked Keith and Pidge, grinning broadly, “Can you believe this? Why did Allura never tell us the lions had physical bodies?”

 

Pidge continued to blink owlishly. Keith shook his head and squared his shoulder, “Don’t know, but Shiro wanted you to come to dinner.” He left, dragging Pidge along behind, leaving Lance to pick himself up.

 

The Blue Paladin chuckled as he stood, “What’cha think gorgeous?” Lance patted Blue’s head. “Want to go show off your beautiful new form?”

 

Blue sent a wave of affirmation though Lance’s mind before crouching low. Lance instinctively braced himself for Blue’s weight, but he was surprised when, as she jumped, Blue grew down from the huge, hulking shape into the size of an average house cat. She landed on Lance’s shoulder and climbed down into the hood of his jacket, poking out her head to rest on Lance’s shoulder.

 

“You are so cool Blue. Definitely my number one girl,” Lance giggled and scratched behind Blue’s ear as he made his way towards the dining area.

 

When he entered, everyone was seated, with Keith talking to Shiro and Pidge still looking as though she was trying to digest what had just happened in front of Lance’s room. Allura and Coran were in their usual places and Hunk was stepping out of the kitchen with a large serving bowl of something that was steaming.

 

But all eyes found Lance as he stepped into the room, more specifically, the blue lioness poking her head out over his shoulder.

 

“I thought you said she was huge,” Shiro glanced at Keith, razing an eyebrow.

 

“She was!” Keith gestured to Lance and Blue. “She was almost as tall as Lance and she wouldn’t let me into his room!”

 

“She shrunk down,” Lance explained, sitting down at the table. “That way she fits right in my hoodie. Don’cha beautiful?”

 

Blue purred and rubbed against Lance’s neck.

 

“This is…” Allura leaned forward in her seat slightly, peering at Blue. “I have never heard of a Lion creating a second form. Much less a physical one”

 

Lance shrugged, “Well, she did.”

 

“That’s amazing,” Hunk set down the serving bowl and reached out a hand. “Can I?”

 

Lance glanced at Blue, who replied by leaning closer to Hunk. The Yellow Paladin gasped in awe as he petted the lioness head, “She’s so _soft._ ”

 

“I know, right?” Lance nodded and leaned his head back so he could nuzzle his cheek into Blue’s side. “And she’s super warm too.”

 

“Remarkable,” Coran had gotten up from his seat and moved closer, looking curiously at the Blue Lion. “I knew the Lions were capable of a great many feats but this…she must have used her quintessence to make this body!”

 

Blue mrowed lazily and jumped onto the table, rolling onto her side and looking up at Lance in a manner reminiscent of the old tabby his Mama owned when the old cat wanted attention. Lance laughed and ran his fingers over Blue’s side, starting at her shoulder and scratching down to her hip, cooing all the while.

 

Shiro chuckled, “Guess that’s one way to bond with your lion.”

 

“It’s the best way!” Lance stated, not looking up from Blue. “Bet all the Lions can do it. But my girl did it first.”

 

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Allura warned, her shocked expression fading into her more neutral one. “I doubt even the Blue Lion can hold this form for very long, she could return back into her mechanical body by tomorrow.”

 

Blue twisted her head so that she could glare and Allura and gave a small rumble of disapproval. It made Lance laugh when he distinctively felt a feeling that translated to ‘watch me’.

 

\-------------

\-------------

 

Blue did not, in fact, disappear the next day. At lights out, she curled up next to Lance, head on his chest as she purred him to sleep. When Lance awoke, it was to Blue licking his face and telling him it was breakfast time.

 

Lance walked into the dining room, on time, smiling broad and bright with an equally happy looking lion draped over his shoulders.

 

Blue stayed by Lance’s side the entire day, shifting her size every once and awhile. She attempted to join in on training, shifting into her much larger form and growling at the Gladiator. But the loud protests from Allura and Lance asking Blue if she could let him work with his team had the lioness slinking off to the sidelines to watch her Paladin.

 

Everyone almost forgot she was there, until Shiro announced they could wrap up for the morning. Blue bounded over to Lance, still in her bigger form, and jumped up on him, licking her sweaty hair and face.

 

“Blue! Blue! Stop it, stop!” Lance gasped between his laughter as Blue continued to ‘groom’ him.

 

The rest of the team watched in amusement, Pidge snickering behind her fist and Shiro shaking his head in fondness. Keith was smirking and Hunk looked like he was watching the best cat video in the universe.

 

Blue did let Lance up, eventually and only after she was satisfied that he was clean. Lance’s hair and face was slick with lion saliva but he was smiling and scratching Blue’s back and shoulders.

 

“You look gross,” Pidge snickered.

 

“And it is worth it!” Lance crowed back. “Blue is the best Lion on the team, hands down!”


	2. The Black Lion

The Black Lion worried for his Paladin.

 

Shiro was one of the best Pilots Black had ever had and the Lion wished to protect his human in whatever way he could.

 

Doing that was easier in battles, with Shiro safely tucked away in Black’s cockpit, where the Lion could ensure his safety. The only exception to that safety were the times Zarkon tried to force Shiro and Black apart in efforts to reclaim Black as his own.

 

The Black Lion growled when he thought of the Galran Warlord. He had once trusted Zarkon, trusted him in the why he trusted Shiro. But that changed when Zarkon tried to force Black to attack his fellow Lions and their Pilots. Black had rejected Zarkon, done what he could to sever the bond they had built and leave the former Paladin behind. But their bond had run deep and destroying it was not a simple thing.

 

Black had been so frightened, for himself and for his Pilot, when Zarkon first tried to regain control. Black had hated to do it but he saw it as the only way to protect his Pilot and he ejected Shiro out of his cockpit. It had hurt, both him and his Pilot, but it had been necessary.

 

It had been even worse when Black and his Pilot fell out of the wormhole. Black was still conscious, still able to feel what was going on, he knew Shiro was in danger but he could not move on his own will, he needed a Pilot to help him get up. It made him want to roar in frustration and anger. If Keith had not been there…Black didn’t even want to entertain what might have happened to his Pilot

 

And when his Pilot had fought Zarkon in the Astral Plane, Black had felt their bond grow so strong that it completely destroyed whatever remnant of a bond left between Zarkon and Black. The Lion could not be more proud of his Paladin.

 

Black had protected Shiro in many ways, but there was one thing that Black was still unable to protect his Pilot from.

 

Shiro had nightmares. Horrifying images from his time being held prisoner and there was little Black could do for him. Shiro never went to anyone about his nightmares, he kept it all tucked away in the back of his mind but Black always felt when Shiro’s past came back to haunt him in sleep. It frustrated Black that he couldn’t be by his Pilots side when Shiro needed him the most.

 

But a solution presented itself in the form of one of his fellow Lions.

 

He had felt a shift in Blue’s energy but he did know what the shift was until Blue herself came bounding through his hanger with her Pilot chasing after her. But Blue was not in her normal body, she was in a much smaller form and lacked her metal armor.

 

He had asked Blue what happened to her but she continued to run about and play with her Pilot. Black was a bit cross at being ignored but decided to wait. Blue was a playful Lion and she loved her Pilot with all her being. She would answer him but not until she was finished playing with her Paladin.

 

It was well after everyone was asleep before Blue returned and explained that her Pilot had been upset and she had used her quintessence to make a second body, one that could easily travel wherever her Pilot needed her, no matter where he was.

 

It made Black think, the new information rolling in his mind after Blue left to join her Pilot in his room. Maybe he didn’t have to watch while his Paladin suffered alone.

 

\-------------

\-------------

 

Shiro wished he could say he was used to the nightmares. That he woke up and was able to calm down within minutes and go back to sleep knowing that he was safe and the dreams could not touch him. Or at least be able to say he could hold himself together decently.

 

But Shiro could not do any of that.

 

When he awoke from nightmares he was often in a cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably and it would be a miracle if he could go back to sleep after he managed to calm himself. On particularly bad nights he would barely know where he was and tears would run uncontrollably down his cheeks while he curled into a corner and desperately tried to hold onto reality.

 

A very small part of Shiro whispered that he should go to someone, that he should seek help and support from his team. But he refused to let himself burden to the rest of the them with his problems.

 

So he sat in his room, a shivering, sobbing mess and wishing he could just get a handle on his stupid brain already.

 

And that night, it had been quite bad.

 

It had been a few days since Blue started following Lance around in her second form and everyone was starting to grow used to seeing the Blue Lion riding around in Lance’s hood. Shiro’s nightmares had been relatively tame for quite some time but that night the pain and fear hit him hard. It wrenched him out of sleep gasping for air. His skin was clammy and sweat slicked, tears were already building in his eyes and he couldn’t quite draw in a full breath. He could still hear distorted cheers from the Arena, Haggar’s raspy laugh as she tore away his arm, Sendek whispering that Shiro was one of them. It all made Shiro want to lock himself away somewhere far, far away from everything, away from the crushing weight on his shoulders and the demons in his head.

 

Shiro didn’t notice his door opening, or the soft footsteps padding towards him. It wasn’t until something big and warm pressed into his side that Shiro looked up with a startled gasp.

 

A lion stood next to the bed, bigger then Blue was even at her max size, with glossy black fur, a splash of white over its muzzle and a small red spot on its forehead. A thick mane circled its head, with streaks of white and gold running through the hairs. Its eyes were bright yellow, almost exactly the same as Blue’s.

 

Shiro blinked several times and rub at his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, “Black?”

 

The lion rumbled lowly and edged forward so he could rest his large head on Shiro’s lap. Shiro sat there, staring and frozen for a few moments before he slowly let his hand lower onto Black’s mane.

 

The lion purred and wiggled his way into the bed, curling around Shiro, wrapping the human up in a pocket of warmth. Shiro sat for a few moments, not entirely sure what he should be doing. Black purred again and nudged Shiro’s chest, pushing just enough to get Shiro to lean back against his side.

 

Shiro exhaled slowly and shuffled down a bit so that his head was pillowed on Black side. He couldn’t feel a heartbeat or breathing, which kind of made since when he thought about it. Coran had said that Blue most likely formed her physical body out of her quintessence which was technically a form of energy. So it made since that Black didn’t posses a heart or lungs. But he was warm, the kind of warmth that wrapped around Shiro like a large blanket. Almost like he was being hugged.

 

He ran his fingers through Black mane as his body slowly relaxed, the warm vibrations of his Lions purr easing the tightness from his muscles. He yawned and buried his face into the fur along the Lions side, “Thanks Black.”

 

The lion rumbled in reply, nuzzling his Pilots neck with his muzzle.

 

\-------------

\-------------

 

Shiro could say, without even a shred of doubt, that he awoke feeling more rested then he had in a very long time. He felt calm and refreshed and ready to face the day.

 

Sure, he got up a bit later then he normally did but Shiro figured one day wouldn’t hurt. Black had purred in agreement to that, rubbing against Shiro’s side as the Paladin went about his morning routine.

 

When the pair arrived in the dining room, everyone else was already there, quietly talking amongst themselves while they ate. Blue was curled up in Lance’s hood again but he head popped out when Black stepped over the room’s threshold and meowed in greeting. Lance looked up at the sound and his entire face lit up, “Dude!”

 

Everyone turned at Lance’s shout of excitement, staring at the black lion that stood almost to Shiro’s chest height.

 

“Well look at that,” Coran said, ginning at Shiro.

 

Shiro returned the smile and moved to his spot at the table, patting Black head as he went, “Yeah, he showed up in my room last night.”

 

“One lion doing this is remarkable,” Coran stated. “But two of them? It’s simply incredible!”

 

Shiro shrugged, he really didn’t want to mention that he thought Black showed up because of his nightmares so he thought a simple shrug would be the best. Allura was watching Black, but Shiro couldn’t really decipher her expression.

 

Keith was skirting around Shiro’s chair to get a better look at Black. Shiro watched as his brother crouched at looked the Black Lion over. The lion regarded Keith in a similar way, rumbling lowly in Shiro’s mind.

 

“He’s bigger then Blue,” Keith stated.

 

“Hey!” Lance squawked. “Blue is the best! No matter what he size is!”

 

Blue seemed to preen at Lance’s statement and glanced over at Black. Shiro couldn’t help but snort slightly because he was sure Blue was rubbing in how her Paladin said she was the best.

 

Black huffed at her and curled himself at Shiro’s feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so this is continuing.  
> I'm gonna do a chapter for each Lion and an epilogue of sorts where everyone just gets together and bonds or the Lions follow their Pilots to some diplomatic thing.  
> Be on the lookout for the next Lion


	3. The Yellow Lion

Hunk had always been the kind of person that was comfortable in his own skin, sure there were bumps in high school but overall he had no issues with his body. But sometimes hated his body, more specifically, he hated his stomach.

 

He had always been prone to motion sickness for as long as he could remember. He could eat pretty much anything that people put in front of him but car trips, amusement part rides, even bumper cars triggered bouts of vomiting.

 

He got better as he got older but his gut still rebelled sometimes. When he got into the Garrison, he had it mostly under control with the only exception being particularly rocky flight simulator sessions or the occasional biting back the burning sensation until he was in his dorm room.

 

Lance tried to help Hunk. In his odd, Lance-like way. And his method of giving Hunk some kind of job to distract him from his churning stomach worked pretty well. Not all the time but it still helped Hunk. And when Hunk started puking his guts out after classes, Lance would help him through it.

 

And then there was everything with the Blue Lion, the Castle, Allura and Coran, the Galra, Voltron.

 

Hunk managed to keep his digestive tract under control during missions and he would usually be fine afterwards. But sometimes he would be very cruelly reminded by his stomach that he was still prone to bouts of heaving uncontrollably.

 

And after on particular missions that had a lot of very fast flying with a lot of twisting and spinning, Hunk found himself on the floor of his room, vomiting into a bucket. Having Yellow as his Lion helped Hunk, since he didn’t move as quickly or turned as shapely as the other Lions did, but sometimes even his Lions slower pace didn’t help the churning of his gut and the burning bile bubbling up his throat.

 

Hunk heaved and coughed as his abdominal muscles clenched painfully, trying to force everything out of his stomach despite the fact Hunk could no longer get anything up but spit and an awful taste in his mouth.

 

Hunk groaned when his stomach finally settled again, letting him breath in something other then strained gasps. He could feel tears burning in his eyes and his whole body felt weak and shaky, his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and he just felt miserable all around.

 

He really, _really_ hated when his own body decided to turn on him.

 

Hunk heaved and tilted forward again to gasp into his bucket. His body convulsed and shook, despite the fact there wasn’t anything left to come up. A part of Hunk wanted to run to Lance, the person who was pretty much always sat by his side when his vomiting fits hit. But Hunk barely had the energy to keep himself upright, much less walk down the hall to Lances room. So he cried and shivered and heaved and hoped that his stomach would settle enough for him to at least sleep in the near future.

 

The Yellow Paladin wasn’t sure how long he was hunched over on the floor, wheezing and gasping, but at some point his door hissed open and a very familiar hand started rubbing circles onto Hunk’s back.

 

“You’re alright buddy,” Lance said, keeping his voice low and reassuring. “Just breath, I’m right here, you’ll be okay.”

 

Hunk hiccupped a bit and nodded, leaning against Lance as his midsection clenched again. He was still miserable, but Lance was there now so it made the pain a bit more tolerable.

 

When Hunk’s stomach settled again he tilted his head up so he could grin tiredly at Lance, “Hey.”

 

“Hey,” Lance grinned back and ruffled Hunks hair. “How you feel?”

 

“Shaky and gross,” Hunk groaned, hiding his face in the crook of Lance’s neck. “But not as bad if I had been alone.” He frowned then when a thought occurred to him. “How’d you know I was sick?”

 

“Your lion got me.”

 

“Huh?” Hunk moved to look at Lance questioningly when something very large bumped against his side.

 

Hunk looked over to see none other then a physical version of his lion. He was much bulker the Blue and Black, with a thick yellow mane and coat and white markings on his muzzle, chest, paws and a white stripe on his forehead that traveled back to the base of his head. His lower jaw was a bit large and jutted out. Making his canines poke out, giving the lion an almost saber-toothed cat look if one ignored the warm and smiling light in his yellow eyes.

 

Hunk blinked at his Lion, “Whoa.”

 

“I know, isn’t it awesome,” Lance grinned. “He just jumped up on my bed and started meowing up a storm. Blue got pretty mad at him.”

 

As if on cue, the Blue Lion herself scrabbled onto Lance’s shoulder, mewing at Hunk in what sounded like concern.

 

“I’m fine,” Hunk smiled at Blue as he ran his hand over Yellow’s head and down his back. The lion’s body felt solid and warm under Hunk’s palm, and that comfortable heat tricking in through his fingers, up his arm and blooming throughout his entire body. Yellow purred and shuffled a bit so that he was practically in Hunk’s lap, the only thing stopping the bulky lion being Hunk’s puke bucket.

 

Lance seemed to notice the Yellow Lion’s want to be closer to his Pilot because he proceeded to take the bucket from Hunk and ran off to clean it out. Blue followed behind her Paladin, leaving Hunk and Yellow by themselves on the floor.

 

Yellow crawled his way fully into Hunk lap and rubbed his head on the teen’s chest, purring all the while. Hunk laughed and leaned against his lion, hugging him around the neck and burying his face into the thick yellow mane, “Hey big guy. Thanks for getting Lance.”

 

Yellow rumbled and rolled over so that he was on his back, still grinning up at Hunk, or as much as a lion could grin anyway. The expression made Hunk laugh as he continued to stroke Yellow.

 

Lance returned after a few minutes with the bucket cleaned, “How you doing?”

 

“Better,” Hunk admitted. “Not a hundred percent but better.”

 

“Wanna have a sleepover? Like when we were kids?”

 

Hunk grinned, “Could be a Lion sleepover.”

 

“Heck yeah!” Lance beamed and jumped to his feet. “I’ll go get the blankets in my room. This is gonna be awesome.”

 

Hunk laughed as his best friend ran off.  

 

\-------------

\-------------

 

Hunk and Lance went to dining room together, laughing and chatting, with Blue tucked into Lance’s hood and Yellow curled around Hunks shoulders. Shiro was the only one already there, with Black sitting next to him still at his full size.

 

Black raised his head as they entered, chuffing in greeting. Shiro looked up as well at the sound of the door and smiled, “I see Yellow has caught on to the newest trend.”

 

Lance beamed, “Sure has, and he’s a cuddlier too.” Blue batted at Lance’s ear and made a low growling sound, “Blue, you’ll always be my number one. Best lion out of all of ‘em.” Blue purred in approval.

 

Hunk chuckled as he made his way to the kitchen, “Hope Coran hasn’t already started on breakfast.”

 

“I think he’s doing systems checks,” Shiro supplied.

 

“Ah, good. That means I can make us something palatable,” Yellow purred and ginned at Hunk. “Yes, you can help me out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, I sat in front of my laptop for almost an hour trying to figure out how to make this chapter longer because I thought it was too short but nothing I tried felt right so I just kept it short!


	4. The Red Lion

Keith was not happy with the situation at all. Not even a little bit.

 

Because the latest resource gathering mission had turned into a running-for-their-lives mission when the local wildlife proved to be much bigger and more aggressive then Coran had told them, they really had to stop trusting the extremely outdated Castle archives. To make it worse, the forest on-planet was too dense for any of the lions to get into, aside from Black, Blue and Yellow’s second forms and the animals that had attacked them seemed impervious to all their weapons except Hunk’s cannon and the three tangible lions.

 

And to top things off, Keith had gotten separated from the rest of the team and chased into a cave by the freaky alien beast that looked like a cross between an alligator and hyena.

 

Keith’s lungs were burning, his legs and sides ached, his muscles screamed for relief but he kept running, his eyes searching the cave for somewhere he could escape the hyena-gator snarling and roaring behind him. He almost whooped for joy when he saw a small tunnel diverting from the main cave, big enough for him but too small for the beast behind him.

 

The Red Paladin dived into the hole, scrabbling back as far as he could into the little side tunnel. It narrowed as went further down so Keith could only get a foot or two into it, just enough to avoid the huge claws swapping at his face.

 

Keith gasped for breath as the hyena-gator pawed and snarled at the entrance of the tunnel, claws barely missing Keith’s legs.

 

Keith tapped his helmet, “Guys?” Static replied to him, making Keith grimace. He was likely too far below ground to get a signal. And he couldn’t just stab his way out since his byard was unable to pierce the animal’s scaly body.

 

Keith hiss as the claw swiped an inch to close to his leg for comfort. He kicked rocks at the animal, hoping to hurt it in some way. His efforts only seemed to anger the beast. It snarled at him then started to claw and the edges of the tunnel entrance, chipping away at the rock.

 

“Guy?!” Keith tried the comm. unit again but received no reply. A small, cynical part of his mind wondered if this was how Shiro felt when he had been injured and trapped on that rocky, low gravity planet after the wormhole catastrophe. Except Keith had had contact with Shiro and Keith currently had no one grounding him in his helmet.

 

The beast was clawing its way closer, way too close and far too quickly for the Paladin’s taste. Keith growled and pushed himself as far back as he could and grabbed for his byard, a small part of him hoping that he could injure the thing enough to frighten it off.

 

The beast lunged and Keith swung his blade, striking the animal right over its eye. It roared in rage and sank its teeth into Keith leg. The teen yelled in pain and fear as he was dragged out of his hiding spot, beating his byard against the gator-hyena’s face despite his efforts only seeming to make the thing angrier.

 

He yelled again as the pressure on his leg increased, the armor covering his shin cracking as the beast’s teeth started breaking through the thick plating. Keith snarled and tried to jab the point of his blade into the Gator-hyena’s eye. The thing jerked its head with a growl and threw Keith into the far wall of the cave.

 

Keith back and helmet hit the wall with a loud crack, the comm. gave a loud shriek before going silent, making him yell in pain again and drop in byard. He hissed as he slouched to the ground, vision blurring slightly. The Gator-hyena snarled and started to stalk towards Keith, saliva dripping from its massive maw and dark eyes glinting angrily.

 

Keith scrabbled back, hissing in pain as he searched for his byard. He saw it, just out of arms reach from him, and tried to push himself up to grab his weapon. The beast roared and jumped at him, making Keith yell in terror and bring up his arms to shield his face.

 

But the attack never came.

 

A second roar filled the cave, followed by the Gator-hyena screeching in pain.

 

Keith lowered his arm enough to something large and red attacking the Gator-hyena. The newcomer was long and sleek, red fur shining brightly despite the darkness of the cave. It twisted and moved with speed and grace, dodging around the Gator-hyena’s attacks and striking back with deadly accuracy.

 

The Gator thing screeched in pain again as the red animal bit its shoulder, deep purple blood leaking from the wound. The red beast roared again, towering over its cowering opponent. The Gator-hyena whimpered and limped off deeper into the cave.

 

Keith released a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding and lowered his arms to his side, letting his head fall back to rest of the stone wall and closed his eyes. With the threat gone, he felt as though he could finally catch his breath, “Thanks Red.”

 

The lioness rumbled and Keith felt her head butt against his chest, the warmth from her body helping him relax. He opened his eyes and scratched at Red’s neck.

 

Her physical form wasn’t quite as large as the other lions, but she was certainly much sleeker looking. Her vibrant red fur was only broken up by a bit of white on her muzzle, around the edge of her ears and on the tip of her tail. Like the other lions, her eyes were bright yellow in color and filled with a comforting warmth hat Keith was oh so familiar with.

 

She purred and rubbed her head over Keith torso before moving her muzzle to the cracked shin guard on his leg.

 

“I’m alright,” Keith assured his lion. His leg hurt but it was mostly from the pressure, his armor had kept the teeth of the hyena-gator cross from breaking his skin.

 

Red, however, was unsatisfied with Keith’s statement. She nosed and pawed at the armor, trying to remove it so she could examine his leg. Keith rolled his eyes and huffed but pulled of the shin guard, “See, nothing is broken.”

 

Red sniffed and ran her hot tongue over his leg before nodding in satisfaction. She rubbed her head against Keith, purring up a storm and making her Pilot chuckle, “Okay, I’m fine, thanks to you. Let’s get back to everyone else, okay?”

 

Red rumbled in agreement.

 

Keith replaced his shin guard and pulled himself up, his leg was sore and he had to limp a bit but he was glad that the Gator-hyena thing hadn’t managed his limb beyond recognition. Red made a low chuffing sound and fell in step beside Keith as he reclaimed his byard. The duo slowly made their way towards the exit, Keith limping along and leaning a bit on Red, when a thought occurred to the half-human, “Red…I have no clue how to get back to everyone else.”

 

The lion huffed.

 

“Hey, I was being chased. I didn’t really make not of landmarks.”

 

Red made a low rumbling noise that sounded like a laugh and butted Keith’s side. She curled her tail around Keith’s wrist, pulling him along like a kid on a leash. “Really Red?” Keith sighed. “You can just walk a pace or two in front of me.”

 

Red snorted and tightened her tail. Keith couldn’t help but wonder it Red was large enough, she would grab Keith by the collar of his uniform and carry him back to the Castle. The mental image made him cringe a bit, especially at the relentless teasing that would follow the little, hypothetical event.

 

Red rumbled in amusement at the imaginary event.

 

“Not. Happening,” Keith growled, making Red laugh again.

 

When they emerged in the open air, Keith tried his comm., but the hit from his earlier battle seemed to have damaged the communicator because the thing didn’t even give a small burst of static.

 

Keith sighed, “Guess we’ll just have to surprise everyone.”

 

\-------------

\-------------

 

When Keith and Red made it back to the Castle, everyone else had already returned and was frantically trying to locate Keith. He stepped onto the main control deck to find everyone talking over each other while Pidge, Hunk and Coran tapped away at the halo-screens.

 

Red had flattened her ears in irritation at the whole thing, thinking that they were all panicking over nothing. Of course she would make sure nothing had happened to her Paladin. Keith snorted at the thought and patted Reds head before looking back at the rest of his team, “Hey!”

 

Everyone’s heads snapped around to a chorus of ‘Keith!’ with a ‘there’s mullet boy’ from Lance. Hunk ran over and wrapped Keith up in a bear hug, “Man, we had no clue _where_ you went!”

 

“Sorry, my comm. got busted after a hid in a cave,” Keith explained as he patted Hunk’s arm.

 

“And it seems that your lion has also manifested a physical form,” Allura looked at Red, her eyes sweeping over the Lion before returning to Keith. “I believe that just leaves the Green Lion.”

 

“Don’t worry number five!” Coran beamed at Pidge. “I am sure Lion will project a physical body soon enough.”

 

Pidge shrugged, “If she does she will, no skin off my nose.”

 

“I image you would most certainly not want that!” Coran cried in astonishment.

 

Hunk laughed as he set Keith back on the floor, “It’s a figure of speech dude.”

 

Keith chuckled along with everyone else laughter as he smoothed his hand over the fur on Red’s scruff. His Lion purred in response and leaned slightly against her Paladin, curling her tail around his leg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why am I grinning like a dork about the fact that the date on this is April 1st?
> 
> Now then, we are down to one more lion aaaaand...........I have no clue what to do for Pidge. I'll figure it out sooner or later...most likely later, BUT I shall figure it out!


	5. Green Lion

Pidge was known for her odd hours. One could say it was her ‘thing’ to stay awake for three days straight before crashing a few hours then rinse and repeat.

 

There usually wasn’t much of a problem. Pidge seemed well adapt to getting less sleep then most people did, weather it was technically healthy for her or not, but the past week she had barely stopped to eat and train much less sleep.

 

Their last mission had presented the Green Paladin with another clue about her family’s whereabouts and it had been the best Pidge had gotten since she first found out why Matt and her Dad disappeared and who had them.

 

So she hunkered down in her lab in the Green Lion’s hanger and got busy chasing her lead.

 

After the fourth day, her team-mates attempted to drag her to bed and each was un-successful in luring her out of her lab, even their lions tried to drag her out, but she stubbornly remained put and by the sixth day of no sleep, Pidge had locked down the hanger doors to prevent anymore interruptions. This, however, meant that in addition to her lack of sleep she had no way to access food unless she unlocked the doors which she knew would result in Shiro physically dragging her to her room and guarding the door until he was satisfied that she had slept enough.

 

But such things like sleeping and eating felt unimportant to Pidge in that moment. She was getting closer, she couldn’t stop yet, not until she had found everything that could be unraveled from the new data.

 

Green rumbled in Pidge’s mind but she pushed that aside, squinting at her computer screen and rubbing one eye with her fist to try and clear some of the blurriness from her vision. Her head was stuffy and her eyes burned, her limbs felt shaky and disconnected but she refused to let that stop her. She was getting close, she could feel it.

 

Green prodded at her mind again, making Pidge growl, “Not now girl, I have to finish this.”

 

Green growled and pushed at Pidge’s mind again, “No,” Pidge turned so that her back was fully facing Green. “I won’t stop.”

 

Green quieted and Pidge gave a small huff of triumph before returning to tacking away at her keyboard, figuring that her lion had given up.

 

Oh how wrong she was.

 

Pidge had ignored the greenish glow at first, thinking it was just the hanger lights. But the glow grew brighter and brighter until Pidge found herself spinning around to find the source.

 

Her jaw dropped when she saw that Green had crouched into a lying position and her chest was emitting a bright green mass of energy. The mass shifted and moved, slowly taking form of a long and lithe lion. Once the green silhouette had taken shape, the glow started to fade, giving way to show off more details, green fur with white makings on the muzzle, around the ridges of the ears and just above the eyes. As the quintessence energy dispersed the lion raised its head and turned its glowing yellow eyes to Pidge.

 

“Gr-Green?” Pidge set her laptop aside and stood shakily.

 

The lion made a low rumbling sound in reply and walked over so that she was standing in front of Pidge. She regarded the Paladin for a moment before bending forward and grabbing Pidge by the collar of her shirt.

 

“Green!” Pidge twisted around, trying to dislodge herself from the lion. “Hey! Stop that! What are you doing?!”

 

Green huffed, padding over to the door and tapping the locking mechanism with her paw. The doors hissed open, letting Green continue down the hallway, dragging Pidge along like a mother cat with an unruly kitten.

 

Pidge growled under her breath, “Green, I do not need bed. What I need is to get back to the lab! So stop it right now and let me go.”

 

Green growled as she entered Pidge’s room and all but threw the human onto the bed. Pidge yelped in surprise and scrabbled to try and sit up, but Green was crawling into bed and curling around Pidge, effectively trapping her Paladin.

 

Pidge tried to dislodge the lion, shoving against her and banging her fists on her back. But Pidge’s sleep-deprived state had weakened her to a much higher degree then she had thought. Exhaustion was easy to ignore when one was sitting in one spot for hours on end, less so when one was trying to push a giant lion off of themselves.

 

Green curled herself a bit more comfortably around Pidge and let out a long yawn.

 

“Quit it Green,” Pidge huffed. “We both know you don’t need to sleep.”

 

Green just laughed and tucked her head over Pidge’s chest. Pidge groaned and tilted her own head back to rest on Green’s side. She blinked at the ceiling as her eyelids slowly grew heavier with each blink. She yawned and rolled onto her side, “Jus’ a quick nap.”

 

Green purred as Pidge settled and her breathing evened out as she slipped into sleep.

 

\-------------

\-------------

 

“Just stay exactly where you are, okay. This is going to be the best thing ever.”

 

Green made a low hum and crouched down so she could stick her head through the hole in the ceiling. Pidge snickered and turned on the camera’s in the dining area.

 

After her forced napped, Pidge had felt rested and rejuvenated enough to complete the decryptions with ease and came up with what she thought was the best way to introduce Green’s second body to the rest of the team.

 

She watched with a child-like glee as the team gathered for breakfast.

 

Shiro, ever an early riser, entered first with Black padding dutifully next to him. Keith followed soon after, Red draped over his shouldered. Hunk hurried in with Yellow running behind him, making a beeline for the kitchen before Coran showed up, for which Pidge breathed a sighed of relief. Coran and Allura entered together, discussing something too quietly for Pidge to hear. And last was Lance, with Blue curled up in her usually spot in his hood.

 

Green glanced at Pidge and gave a questioning rumble. Pidge gave the lioness a thumbs up as Hunk returned with the food and sat down.

 

Green leaned down so that her whole head was poking out of the ceiling and made a low growling sound that made everyone look up.

 

Lance jumped out of his chair, “Please tell me I am not the only one seeing the Ceiling Cat.”

 

“Ceiling…what?” Keith frowned. “It’s the green lion.”

 

“Ceiling. Cat.” Lance repeated.

 

Pidge giggled and looked over to Shiro, who was clearly trying to surprise his laughter. Ha! She always knew their fearless leader was secretly into old cat memes.

 

Hunk was snickering while Allura and Coran merely blinked in confusion.

 

“How do you not know about ceiling cat?” Lance waved his arms at Keith.

 

The Red Paladin held his hands up in surrender, “I just don’t, okay?”

 

Pidge leaned against Green and started to wheeze in laughter, this was turning out so much better then she had thought the reveal would turn out.

 

Green pulled in her head and purred.

 

“Yeah, that was the best girl,” Pidge giggled and scratched Green under her chin.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Byrnstar for suggesting the 'Ceiling Cat' meme, it was truly a brilliant idea for Pidge to introduce her lion's physical form.


	6. Voltron Pride

Black’s ears twitched upwards at the hiss of the dining area doors opening. He looked up, despite the fact he didn’t need to, he knew exactly who had yet to arrive at the morning meal.

 

Black sat up, fully prepared to tell Blue that she really needed to stop mothering her Pilot. His words, however, stilled in his mind when Lance walked into the room.

 

Blue was not tucked into her Pilots hoodie as per usual. Instead, she was in his arms with her head tucked under his chin and her tail coiled around his wrist. Lance himself looked tired and wrung out, with some slight bags under his red-rimmed eyes and one hand slowly stroking Blue’s head.

 

Black knew quite a bit about nightmares and he recognized when a Pilot had suffered from them, both from past Pilots and from his own.

 

Blue peeked out from under Lance’s chin and caught Black’s eye, **_“Lance doesn’t feel good today.”_**

****

**_“I noticed,”_** Black rumbled.

 

Blue nodded and returned to comforting her Pilot.

 

Black surveyed the others Pilots as Lance moved to his spot at the table. Yellow and his Pilot seemed concerned, which made sense to Black. The Yellow Lion and his Paladin always seemed to worry for the rest of the pride. Green was trying to look indifferent but Black knew she was concerned. Her Pilot, however, seemed distracted from her fellow pilots’ distress. Red watched the blue pair like they were prey and demanded her full attention, but her Pilot looked slightly annoyed. Black’s own Pilot was watching Lance with a critical eye, as if he could tell something was amiss but couldn’t quite figure out what. Coran was watching Lance and he had a knowing look, as though he knew Lance was not at his best that day.

 

Black felt as though this late arrival would be brushed aside, and he was fine with that as long as Blue helped her Pilot out of his slump.

 

But there was always someone who did not like things going unaddressed.

 

“Lance,” Princess Allura stood and crossed her arms. “Care to explain why you are so late to breakfast?”

 

Black’s ears pinched back slightly. He knew Allura was not a bad person or a bad leader, but the problem came when she became too focused on the ‘larger picture’ and ignored the little things like when one of the Paladins needed some space and time.

 

Lance glanced up at the princess and bit his lip, grip tightening slightly on Blue, “Sorry, I overslept.”

 

Black turned to his Pilot, mentally hoping he would intervene before things got bad.

 

Lance’s answer did not seem to win Allura’s favor, “Lance, I can’t believe how many times I must tell you how vital it is that you participate in meals. Voltron requires a strong bond between the Paladins in order to reach its full power and we cannot have anyone skipping this vital time to better your link with your team mates.”

 

Black pawed at Shiro’s leg and made a low growling sound. He could feel Blue growing more agitated and Lance seemed to be curling more into himself as Allura spoke. Shiro glanced down at Black then back at Allura, “Princess-”

 

“In a moment Shiro,” Allura shot the Black Paladin a sharp look that made him shut his mouth so fast Black heard his teeth click. “Now Lance, I know you enjoy playing around and being silly but our fight against the Galra required full seriousness from all of us. We cannot afford to have any soft of weakness from-”

 

That did it. Black had seen it coming but when Blue jumped onto the table, shifted into her larger form and let out a roar loud enough to shake the room it still made him jump to his feet and the fur along his back to stand on end.

 

The other lions scrabbled to the Pilots and Black heard Yellow give a yelp of surprise. Blue roared again and spun around to grab Lance out of his chair and pushed him back out of the room, leaving everyone else in mild shock.

 

A tense silence fell over the room for several moments, until Shiro cleared his throat, “With all due respect Princess…I think you were being a bit harsh.”

 

Black made a low growl of agreement before moving to follow after Blue and Lance. He could hear the other lions running behind him and the Paladins talking with the princess.

 

Red was the first to catch up so that she was running alongside Black, **_“What are you planning on doing? Blue is mad and you know how terrifying she is when she’s this angry!”_**

****

**_“We are a Pride Red,”_** Black replied. **_“We always look after each other, and Blue is in need of us right now.”_**

****

**_“Yeah, yeah, I agree,”_** Yellow bounded over and nodded his head. **_“But I have never seen Blue this mad. What if she doesn’t even let us anywhere near Lance?”_**

****

**_“Then we will wait until she does,”_** Black replied matter-of-factly. **_“Or at least calm her down enough so that she will allow Lance’s fellow Pilots to amend the situation.”_**

****

**_“I bet she’ll try to bite the Princess’s ankle!”_** Green chirped from behind the three larger lions.

 

Black flattened his ears and growled, **_“Not helping Green.”_**

****

****

\-------------

\-------------

 

They eventually tracked Blue down to her hanger. She had returned to her normal body and raised her particle barrier.

 

Black sat down and pawed at the shield, **_“Blue?”_**

****

**_“Leave!”_** Blue’s voice boomed around them.

 

Yellow yelped and hunkered down slightly, **_“Blue, calm down, okay? It’s just us.”_**

****

Blue growled in reply.

 

Red growled back and kicked at the barrier, **_“We aren’t going to hurt your Pilot! So stop being dramatic and let’s talk.”_**

****

The barrier flickered slightly and Blue emerged in her physical body, bounding over to Red and shoving the lioness harshly, **_“Do not talk to me about dramatic! You almost tore apart the Marmorians base because Keith was in danger!”_**

****

**_“That was different!”_** Red yowled.

 

**_“Yes! Very different! You almost killed countless potential allies!”_ **

****

**_“Guys, stop it,”_** Green stepped forward, trying to get between Blue and Red’s roaring match.

 

Yellow attempted to help by lightly batting at Blue to try and get her to back up but his efforts to calmly resolve things were being ignored.

 

Black growled and brought himself up to his full height, **_“Enough!”_**

****

The room stilled almost instantly, all the lions snapping to attention at their leaders roar. Black looked over each one of the lions before his gaze settled on Blue, **_“I know you wish to protect your Pilot but locking him away from the rest of the Pride will not help matters.”_**

****

**_“But they all say such hurtful things!”_** Blue protested. **_“And the Princess called him weak! My Pilot is not weak!”_**

****

**_“She wasn’t talking about Lance,”_** Green rolled her eyes and flicked her tail. **_“She was talking about the Voltron Bond.”_**

****

**_“But Lance is part of that bond!”_ **

****

**_“The Princess is young,”_** Black said. **_“She still has much to learn and she will make mistakes along the way.”_**

****

**_“But why does she always attack_ my _Pilot,”_** Blue laid down and covered her face with her paws. **_“He always tries so hard and he’s sad so much. I hate that my Lance is always feeling so sad.”_**

****

**_“But they’re getting better,”_** Yellow crouched down next to Blue and nuzzled at her shoulder. **_“They all seemed worried about Lance this morning. I think Allura just spoke that way because she’s worried.”_**

****

**_“That is not an excuse,”_** Blue hissed.

 

 ** _“No, it’s not,”_** Black crouched so that he was more on an eye level with Blue. **_“But hopefully she will learn and improve. But she cannot properly mend things if you lock Lance away.”_**

****

Blue made a low keening sound and her tail thwacked the floor. She was conflicted but Black was thankful she was calmer.

 

His ears twitched when he heard the sound of metal and hydraulics activating and moving. He sat up and looked over towards Blue’s armored body to see it was slowly crouching down and the maw was opening. Without Blue’s consciousness being present within the metal form, it was much more sluggish and robotic, lacking that fluidness that was unique to the Voltron Lions. But it did open and allowed Lance to step out into the hanger.

 

He walked slowly towards the lions, eyes on Blue. He clearly wanted to be close to his Lion but Black could see the hesitance in his body language. Black made a low chuffing sound to get the Blue Paladin’s attention then jerked his head towards Blue.

 

Lance picked up his pace almost immediately and was amongst them within seconds, huddling next to Blue and wrapping his arms around her neck, “It’s alright Blue, it was my fault for not wanting to get outta bed this morning.”

 

Blue leaned against her Pilot and huffed, **_“You’re too forgiving Lance. You had good reason to stay in bed for a bit longer. The princess was not in the right.”_**

****

Lance sighed and stroked Blue’s head, “I think you’re just too protective beautiful.”

 

Red snorted, **_“You two are made for each other.”_**

****

**_“Shut up,”_** Blue lashed her tail so it would whack Red’s leg.

 

“Guys, don’t fight. I’m really not worth all this drama.”

 

Black’s ear flicked back and he rumbled lowly. He knew Lance sometime worried about his place on Voltron. He knew the human suffered from homesickness and the occasional nightmares. He also knew about the insecurity that the human harbored but the way he talked made Black wonder if Lance’s insecurities were more intense then he had previously thought.

 

Yellow sat up enough to press his muzzle to the side of Lance’s head, making a low humming noise of comfort. The human laughed and patted the Yellow Lion’s neck. Black glanced at Red and Green, who were trying to be stand offish but looked as though they wanted to hunker down and snuggle into the cuddle pile that was forming.

 

Green was first to give up on playing the lone lion, flopping down on her side and curling around behind Lance. The human grunted in surprise but scratched between her ears, electing a happy little purr from the smallest lion. Red took longer but she did eventually shuffle closer to the mass of brightly colored fur to lean slightly on Blue and in easy reach of Lance.

 

The Blue Paladin giggled and patted Red’s head, “Aww, you and Keith are really big softies.”

 

Red huffed and lashed her tail but there was no real malice in her expression or body language.

 

Black watched the scene unfold with a fond expression.

 

 ** _“Aren’t you going to join?”_** Green tilted her head at him.

 

Black huffed but moved closer so that Lance could run a hand through his mane.

 

The moment was interrupted, however, at the sound of the hanger door hissing open.

 

Shiro stood at the front of the group, with Allura a step behind him and everyone else clustered behind those two.

 

Blue’s head jerked up and she growled as Allura started to step forward, **_“You stay away!”_**

****

“Blue, calm down beautiful,” Lance scratched around Blue’s ears, attempting to quell her angry hisses and growls.

 

Allura stepped back slightly, face clearly distressed. Shiro was the next to try moving forward, “We’re not here to hurt your pilot Blue.”

 

Blue snarled and curled herself more around Lance, lashing her tail around his waist.

 

 ** _“Blue, just let them come in,”_** Yellow rumbled, nudging Blue’s side.

 

The lioness growled and turned around so the she could hide her face against Lance’s chest.

 

 ** _“You big kitten,”_** Green snorted and batted lightly at Blue’s ear.

 

Shiro glanced to Black and the lead lion could feel the question in his Pilots mind. Black nodded his head towards Lance and made a low purring sound, **_“She won’t pounce. She’s more likely to just hiss a lot.”_**

 

The team filtered into the hanger and Hunk moved around so he could jog over to Lance’s side and wrap him up in a hug. Or, at least, hug Lance as best he could hug him with Blue curled around her Pilot.

 

“Hey dude, you feeling okay?”

 

Lance chuckled, “Bro, I’m fine, really. Just sleepy.”

 

Blue growled in disagreement.

 

Shiro stood next to Black, shifting his weight from one leg to the other and rubbing at his arm, “Lance, you don’t have to tell us what’s wrong if you don’t want to. But we do need to apologize.” Lance opened his mouth but Shiro kept speaking. “Today wasn’t the first time any of us have snapped at you. It was just the one where we realized how much we take out frustrations on you or fail to consider the fact that you are much, much more then a class clown. We’ve all been stressed the past few weeks but that is still not an excuse. And I feel as though the only reason we noticed our mistreatment towards you was because the lions have been helping everyone out a lot with our stress, and it has helped us notice things that we should have never over looked.” Shiro sat down and extended is hand to Lance. “I feel like I am mostly to blame. I haven’t been a very good leader or friend to you and for that I am very sorry. I hope I will be able to do better by you in the future.”

 

Lance stared, slacked jawed, as if Shiro had just proclaimed he was leaving Voltron and leaving it in Lance’s hands. The Blue Paladin closed and opened his mouth a few times before clearing his throat, “It’s fine Shiro, really. You got a lot on your plate.”

 

“And so do you,” Pidge countered. She had moved closer to Lance and somehow managed to wiggle her way under his arm. “We’re fighting a space war! We all got a lot of junk to deal with. So we might as well deal with it together.”

 

Keith made a small noise of agreement and sat next to Shiro, while Coran circled around Yellow and Red to pat Lance’s shoulder comfortingly. Allura stood back, looking as though she wanted to join but was holding herself back.

 

Lance glanced up at her and then ducked his head so that it was resting against Blue’s. The lioness made a few grumbling noises before Lance looked up again and waved one of his hands to beckon Allura over.

 

The princess stepped closer, “It has…been brought to my attention that I can be very hard on all of you. But I fear that your personality made me feel as though I had to be particularly hard on you. It was a foolish thing for me to do and I cannot express how sorry I am for doing that to you. I only wish that you can forgive me.”

 

Lance grinned, “Princess, it’s all fine.”

 

“It’s not….” Allura returned Lance’s grin with a small smile. “But we shall make it so.”

 

Blue huffed, **_“You’d better. I won’t be as nice next time.”_**

 

That got a chuckle from the lions and a small giggle from Lance and it was only matter of seconds before the hanger was filled with the laughter of the Voltron Pride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND DONE! .....well, maybe. If I have time I might do a bonus chapter of what happened in the dining room while the lions were running around.
> 
> I honestly think Lance would get along well with all the lions. Blue is his main girl of course but the rest of the lions like his company, even though some refuse to admit it. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Why did I write this? I thought it was cute.  
> Now I'm sitting here thinking, "This is supposed to be a quick little one shot but I want the other Lions to get in on this and the team to realize that they are a little jerky to Lance sometimes."  
> I donno, maybe this will get more parts but for now it a fluffly little oneshot.


End file.
